The war on terror started because of 9/11. Please watch the video 9/11 Loose Change.
After watching the video, respond in paragraph form to each of the following questions:
  1. What evidence is provided that might suggest that the World Trade Center may actually have been demolished using other means than a jet liner crashing into it? Show at least three pieces of evidence that might point in this direction.
  2. Consider the destruction of a section of the Pentagon. What evidence is shown that shows, again, that a jet liner may not have crashed into that? Provide three pieces of evidence for that as well.
  3. Some people dismiss conspiracy theorists as those people on the fringe of historical pursuits without anything meaningful to say other than messages based on conjecture. What evidence is there in US history that shows that people within the US government, or those influential within it have created situations in which they manipulated situations to ensure a change in policy in US foreign actions? Provide at least two case studies.
  4. Finally, what do you feel is the central concern of the maker(s) of this video? How would a re-examination into 9/11 impact on US relations with foreign nations? Why do you suppose that the information in this video was not made available on mainstream American television?
This assignment is due Monday, August 18th. It is worth 45 points.

Notes for First Lesson

Lesson Two
Media Literacy and Democracy
Link Ultra-Concentrated Media - the Facts http://www.newint.org/features/2001/04/01/facts/
Notes for lesson:

Lesson Three
We will be looking at a couple of videos about Sierra Leone's civil war and global interconnectedness. As you watch the film called Cry Freetown
consider the following questions.

  1. Why do you suppose Sorious Samura made this film? Who is his intended audience? Why?
  2. Why must we care about world events that seemingly have nothing to do with our lives?
The second film (if time permits) is about conflict diamonds.



Your homework for next class:

Read "Power to the People" in Time magazine http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1569526,00.html
And answer the following:
  1. What types of mass media do you use most?
  2. How is the internet redefining media?
  3. How is the internet a potential weapon against modern day mass media?
  4. How does the article you were assigned to read correlated with the study of CWI?
  5. After reading this article can you see the world changing?

Lesson Four
Media Literacy and the World Wide Web (a.k.a. the Web of Deception)

For this learning activity Google the name, Martin Luther King. Read through the first top eight hits, exclude any Youtube selections. By glancing at the addresses determine which would be the most accurate.

Hand out. "Evaluating websites"

The following questions are to be answered for next class:

  1. What are some reliable examples of resources dealing with Martin Luther King? List at least three sites and explain what makes each reliable.
  2. What can one do to ensure that an internet source is reliable?
  3. What types of sources do you think should be used for this class? Are blogs okay for use in this class? Explain.
  4. What other internet tools are useful for this class?
Evaluating a website handout:
Lesson Five (My error on Friday, apologies for all). This is Bill Moyer addressing the NCMR (National Coalition for Media Reform). Please watch on your own time. It's at the top of the page. I don't know why, but there it is.

LESSON SIX: A review of the medial unit. Discussion of the essay. All issues are controversial, that is they have more than one side to them. That is certainly true of our next unit of study...

LESSON SEVEN: Introduction to Globalization. Notes are here; . Since many of you will be absent this is a friendly reminder that your assignments are due Monday for all non-Seniors, and Tuesday for all Seniors. You will be given 40 minutes of class time for preparing, and working on this assignment during this class.

LESSON EIGHT/NINE: It's show time. Now is the time that we can show some of your news stories, and the work that you have done. Please upload your work to your group's file:
Lauren, Sarah, Stephanie
Yongmin, Zaehyun,Peter, Patrick, Scott
Ashley, Sunny, Lisa, Melanie, Jennifer
Dan, Issac, Jay, Jun

Your next assignment is to learn a bit about globalization's impact via multinational corporations and media. As well how it can impact on people. Your assignment: